January 15, 2004

Resolve to Change Your Life

by Carrie Pålsson

It's the middle of January and you all know what that means: your New Year's Resolution is long forgotten, the promise of a new year is fading fast and life is back to normal. But it doesn't have to be that way! Read more.

10 Years From the Couch to the Starting Line

by Dawn Brushammar

As a teenager I played soccer year-round. This meant traveling team in the summer and the fall, indoor soccer in the winter and varsity with my school in the spring. That required running, but I was always running toward a ball or an opponent. That is, there was a point to the running, a greater goal. I never understood my friends who went out for the cross country team. Running for the sake of running was out of the question for me. Even a one-mile run scared me. I was always last on the training runs I had with my soccer team. It was like there was a mental block that I could not break through. A knee injury finally sidelined me from soccer for good, and then I was off to college. Read more.

Debunking the Myths

by Steph Bairey

In junior high, I thought I debunked a lot of myths.

I realized that fairy tale romances simply don't happen in real life. I discovered that you got in trouble for doing bad stuff, and didn't often get recognized for doing good stuff. And I figured out that it wasn't true that I could become President of the Unites States if I set my mind to it. Read more.

Growing Up and Growing--Boring?

by Melanie Crombe

I always thought that beyond my grandma's back fence was another world. The fence was an old, rag-tag thing. The wood was half -rotted and it appeared as if it were the vines holding it upright rather than any basic soundness of structure. It didn't face a street or a neighbor's yard like our fence at home, but instead looked toward a huge sealed-off parking lot which was raised a whole storey off the ground. Peeking through gaps in the fence, I could see that underneath the parking lot was a huge area of darkness. And spurred by equal mixes of boredom and book-inspired imagination, I always longed to enter. Read more.

Transformation From Teacher to Writer

by Katrina Martin

If they ever write a story about me in Poets & Writers magazine, the headline should read, "Woman Transforms from Student Teacher to Published Author in Three Months." It's funny that this is just such an article about my transformation and that's not the headline. It's too long anyway. But yes, I did perform this amazing feat. I didn't think my life would turn out this way, though, and going through the transformation was one of the most difficult experiences of my life. I experienced confusion, doubt, fear, nausea, restless nights, headaches, excitement, joy, a sense of accomplishment and confidence. Read more.

My Mother's Secret

by Richelle Gratton

It was a normal morning for any first-year college student. I was a little groggy and dehydrated, but had to be up early to meet my mom and aunt for a visit. While getting ready, I talked and laughed with my roommate about the previous night's adventures, and wasn't surprised when my habitually early visitors dropped in before the appointed time. I met them at their car and and together we trudged through the unplowed, snow-covered parking lot of my residence hall. The moment we walked into my room, my mother shut the door firmly and my aunt took a tight grip on my arm. They both watched me with melancholy eyes, and I instantly knew something was wrong. Read more.